


Doom and Gloom

by delighted



Series: A Cure for Doom and Gloom [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene, because evidently I just can't stop, post-episode S6E13, still dealing with S6E11&12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 05:11:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5815495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delighted/pseuds/delighted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny’s worried about Steve’s weird, negative, Danny-like-mood, so he takes him home for wings and beer, and maybe hopes he can get him to talk.......</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doom and Gloom

**Author's Note:**

> The whole turn-about with Danny asking Steve to not be negative was too, too lovely. And, Danny was just so sweet to Steve in this episode, it just went directly to my heart. So, once more, I found myself writing a post-ep. And, I'm finding with these reacting-as-we-go things (as opposed to reflecting back on entire seasons) that my intentions mean very little to the outcome. This was going to be a quick little "Danny teases Steve about his negativity, and then presses him to open up about Gabriel and his fears over that." Turned into a bit more, and once more, stuff from the past couple episodes worked its way in. 
> 
> Again, not in the same timeline as my post-ep 11 or 12 stories.... Because, really, it’s just so much more fun that way.
> 
> One quick note: in S5E17—the op in the cat lady’s apartment—Danny worked out that Steve's personality type is ESTJ. Danny seemed thrilled by it in that episode, and I’m betting, after their recent issues, Danny would have gone back to that workbook for deeper insights.... Well. My Danny does, anyway.
> 
> Picking up at the tail end of the last scene of them in the car, looking for Chin and Kono....

“... But let's be positive. That's all, positive.” Steve didn’t even grunt, didn’t acknowledge Danny at all, not even with a death glare. Danny let it sit for a few blurs of green and swerves on the dirt road. Then he sighed. “You’re always telling me that my negative attitude attracts the bad things that happen to me. Do you mean that, or?”

“You listen?”

_And finally, he speaks_ , Danny thought to himself, then stared at Steve like he had three heads. “Of course I listen.” A slight shrug, “I may not take it in very well, but I do listen.”

“Huh,” Steve responded.

“Huh?” Danny asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s good,” Steve said, slightly bemused. “That’s....”

“What?” Danny pressed.

“Sweet, actually,” Steve replied, giving Danny a half smile, and he almost looked more like himself and less like some weird mingled version of himself and Danny. And then they found Chin’s car, and Steve went into full-on Ninja SEAL mode, and thank goodness, as it turned out, for Steve’s weird obsession with the delayed and non-responsive cousins, because holy shit that was close. Danny was grateful for Steve’s special powers and all, but he was more than a little spooked by the whole Danny-like negativity thing Steve had going on, and he felt the need to get to the bottom of it, and fast.

Once they wrapped up in the field, it was late and they were, all of them—especially Chin and Kono—beyond exhausted. Chin pulled Steve aside and said he was going to take Kono home and stay with her, and Steve agreed, and thanked him. He sighed deeply and turned to Danny. The look in his eyes was hard to read, but Danny didn’t like it.

“Ok, babe, let’s get you home too,” he said, dragging Steve to the Camaro. “You gotta drive, though, babe, because I have no idea where we are, and I will get us lost.” Steve smiled weakly at that. “What?” Danny goaded. “Got nothing snappy to say to that? I’m _asking_ you to drive!” He sighed, slapped an arm around Steve, opened the driver’s side door, and pushed Steve into the driver’s seat. He closed the door as softly as he could, mumbling to himself, “Oh, boy. This is going to be interesting....”

Steve didn’t talk all the way back to the house, didn't try to drop Danny off at his place (which was closer), and Danny was glad they weren't going to have a conversation about it, about where Danny was going to stay, because Danny had absolutely no intention of leaving Steve alone like this. He supposed he should take it as a good sign that evidently Steve agreed with that assessment. But it was a little bit disconcerting that Steve didn't even pretend to try to get Danny to go home.

Danny did however talk about food.

“Let’s order wings from that pizza place that had awful pizza but decent wings. Tell me you have the good ranch dressing, though, because I refuse to eat theirs. And, do you think we should have beer? I’m kind of wanting something stronger, to be honest.” He knew Steve would have ordinarily been more sensitive to Danny’s being upset over the death of a cop—Steve had far too much experience with Danny being upset over that, and he was usually the one to suggest they go straight for the whiskey instead. The fact that Steve was completely non-responsive about one of Danny’s bigger trigger issues was upsetting to Danny. Not because he was feeling especially in need of the extra attention, but because it indicated to him that something was going on in that thick head of his. He sighed. “Ok, babe. Ok.” And he shut up the rest of the way home.

When they got there, Danny shooed Steve up to his room to shower and change while he took care of ordering the food and picking out drinks. In the end, he settled on beer because he was feeling he might need his wits rather more about him tonight, to deal with whatever kind of odd mood Steve had fallen into. He brought the drinks upstairs, as Steve had not reemerged after his shower, and found him sitting out on the upstairs lanai.

“Here ya go, babe,” he said, handing Steve a beer. Steve took it without a word, and Danny shook his head. “I’m just gonna wash up and pull on a pair of sweats, ok? Can you listen for the food? Money’s by the door.” Steve nodded mutely, and Danny took it as the best he was going to get, and headed for the bathroom.

By the time he came out, the food had arrived, and Steve had actually managed to get it, put it out on plates, grab a roll of paper towels, and bring it all back upstairs, including the bottle of dressing Danny preferred and more beers. Which was good, because it meant he was actually processing what was going on in front of him, just not responding verbally. Danny could live with that. He didn’t like it, of course, but he could live with it. For now.

“Ah, wonderful, thanks, babe,” Danny called as he padded barefoot back out to the lanai. The busy work of getting the food out had seemingly shaken Steve a little bit out of his funk, and as they settled down next to each other on the wicker sofa, Steve bumped against Danny in a way that said he was grateful for what Danny was doing—and that gave him a bit of a lift, and also made him resolve to push Steve a little bit tonight.

They were both, unsurprisingly, given the day they’d had—on top of all the surfing—starving. So, for a while, neither said anything as they enjoyed the wings, which really were surprisingly good, and the setting (moon light off the ocean is relaxing, I don’t care who you are or where you’re from), and, let’s be honest, the most important part—the company. Because while it’s usually Danny gaining strength from Steve’s positive attitude, for once Steve was taking comfort from Danny’s surprisingly buoyant energy, and maybe Danny’d underestimated the impact Deb’s death had on Steve, or maybe he’d got used to having Mary and Joanie around again, and maybe his heart was still just too bruised from Cath’s abrupt departure, or maybe fifteen other things, but clearly Steve was more than a little beat down, and it occurred to Danny that maybe Steve’s rather childish and brisk and competitive and just plain weird mood of late had several layers of causality attached to it. But he was beginning to suspect that the whole Gabriel Wainwright thing had flavors of Victor Hesse that were dredging up old wounds for Steve, and all of that together, and Danny was suddenly amazed the man was able to stand upright.

So, Danny knew Steve was close to the breaking point, and he was not at all sure what to do about it, but Steve had eaten enough, and had a couple more beers, and Danny cleared everything away, and they were still sitting under the moonlit sky, listening to the waves, drinking their beers, and... yep. Not talking. He found himself watching Steve, out of the corner of his eye, trying to read him, trying to find a way to... something. Say, do, ask, touch.... But he was completely at a loss. So, he sat there, trying to put all of that, all that was in his head, into his just sitting there with Steve. And he figured, given that people not being there for Steve was clearly one of Steve’s own bigger trigger issues, Danny figured that had to be worth something. Seemed he was right, because suddenly his hand was being held, and it nearly made him cry.

“Thanks, Danny,” Steve finally whispered. “Thanks for... just letting me be.” He turned to face Danny, and the look in his eyes melted Danny’s heart. “I know you want me to talk,” he smiled sadly. “But right now... I just. Well, I just need this.” And he gave Danny’s hand a soft squeeze, and then leaned back again, and he kind of tugged on Danny’s hand, and Danny thought he knew what Steve wanted, so he leaned up against him, and was sure he’d guessed correctly because Steve sighed and relaxed a little more.

After a while, it became clear that Steve was fading out of “just needing to be” and into needing more, if only to Danny, because the tension level in his body was rising. Danny felt like he could taste it, and this, he said to himself, was why he’d only had one beer. Without looking at Steve, he tried to read him just from his body’s vibrations. It was something Danny was learning he could do, if he paid enough attention, when he could feel but not see Steve, which was something that had happened more than a few times. They both had, completely honestly here, had rather shitty times of it the past while, and they had, over the years, developed a bit of an odd routine with what Danny rather reluctantly called “snuggling.” What with the whole thing with Charlie, and with Cath, and also with Adam... there had been a number of nights where they’d simply fallen asleep next to each other on the sofa, after pretending to watch a movie. It had been some much needed comfort, and, though Danny pretended not to think about what it meant, it had been comfort he hadn’t been able to get elsewhere. (And that was as far as he was letting that thought go tonight because he needed to stay focused.)

But it did mean things were _slightly_ awkward now, because they were upstairs, right off the bedroom, and Steve’s bed was just a few feet away. While the sofa was very far away, besides which, there was no plausible way they were going to watch a movie tonight. While Danny was sitting there, working himself into a bit of a state over what to do, Steve made the decision for him, without even speaking a word, and Danny was both impressed and relieved. Steve simply stood up, pulling Danny with him by the hand he was still holding, and led him towards his bedroom. Once there, he sat on the bed, and tugged on Danny’s hand till he went down on the bed next to him. Steve leaned up against the headboard and gathered Danny against him, wrapping an arm around Danny’s shoulders, and _ohhh_ if that wasn’t the best thing he’d felt in a long time (again, not thinking about that). Danny did have one moment of being amused that while it was Steve who was clearly in need of comforting, it was taking the form of Steve comforting  _him._  Didn’t that just make so much sense, and it heightened the sense Danny had that one of Steve’s key themes was protecting (or not being able to) those he loved. And, huh, had Danny just put himself in the category of people Steve loved? Well.

Steve took a deep breath, and oh my God, was he going to speak? Danny found himself holding his breath.

“I just have been so worried about Gabriel,” Steve whispered. “More so since Deb died. I don’t know why.”

Danny didn’t move, because he knew from experience that Steve would be easier confessing his feelings if Danny avoided looking directly in his eyes. “I do, babe,” he said, softly. “It's because you’re afraid of losing people you love.” He sighed as Steve tensed. “Has it not occurred to you that all this hiding and reappearing and dramatic crap that Gabriel does might remind you of Hesse? And that losing Deb brings up losing your dad? Because it’s occurred to me, and I’m not even inside your head.” Steve let out the breath Danny knew he’d been holding.

“Huh,” he said, as if that made rather some sense. “You been seeing our therapist without me?” He joked.

Danny tilted his head to the side and chewed on his tongue a little. “No...” he started. “But I have been reading about your personality type. And especially about how you deal with emotions.”

Steve huffed out a little breath. “Why?”

Danny struggled not to pull back and look at Steve. “Why, you big dope? Because I love you, and if you’re not going to talk to me about your feelings, I am going to try to figure you out myself so I can have a better sense of what’s going on in your head.”

Danny could tell that made Steve smile, even before the comment came out. “And who’s the control freak now, Danno?” But he kissed the top of his head after he said it, and Danny nestled further into Steve’s side in response. “Ok,” Steve said. “You’re right. I keep replaying when Victor kidnapped Chin. Over and over. It just doesn’t stop. I’m terrified that Gabriel is going to do something like that. I just... I can’t go through that again.”

Danny gave him a little squeeze. “We, Steven, _we_.” Steve let out a little huff, but didn’t say anything. “I get it, babe. I do. But being paranoid is not going to help, and I’m not saying don’t trust your instincts, because hell, those instincts saved Chin and Kono today. So, please, trust those instincts. But please do not try to shoulder this alone. And _please_ , lean on me before you fall over.” Steve returned Danny’s squeeze, but still didn’t say anything. “I need you to be my positive voice,” Danny continued. “If we start relying on me to be yours, we are going to be in very serious trouble,” and he tried to make it light, but he thought he probably failed, especially as he was beginning to feel like he was going to cry. Fortunately, and maybe Steve was getting good at reading Danny just from touch as well, but he seemed to pull it together a bit at that.

“I was thinking it would be good for you,” he said, almost playfully. “To have to pull me out of a dark mood. Force you to strengthen your positive moods.” And he slid down in the bed, to lie down, and pulled Danny with him, turning to face him. He put on a more serious tone. “Can we be that for each other?”

Danny smiled, bit back a sob, and said: “That is going to require talking about stuff....”

“No it’s not,” Steve protested. “You know. I don’t have to tell you. You know.”

Danny laughed just a little, and shook his head at his endlessly stubborn partner. “Please don’t count on that,” he said. “I will try. But I want to know that you will tell me before you do anything stupid. Please. I need to know you will _tell me_.”

Steve was nodding, and he swallowed. “I love you, Danno,” he whispered.

“I love you too, babe,” Danny sighed, as he pulled Steve against him. And they stayed like that till their breathing slowed, and their hearts synced. And then Steve stirred a little.

“I miss her.”

“Oh, babe,” Danny replied, his heart breaking. “I know you do.”

“I got used to having her in the house. Having them all in the house. It was really great.” And Steve was crying. And Danny knew it was about so much more, but he let it just be about Deb for now.

He held him, and rocked him, and rubbed circles on his back, and let him have what he was fairly sure was his first real cry about it. And after it faded, he whispered, “How about I come stay with you for a while. I don’t think being alone is good for you right now.” He felt Steve huff out a breath at that. Then he inhaled deeply and whispered back.

“I’d really like that.”

Danny smiled. “Good. Me too.”


End file.
